UC San Diego weathers ‘racial emergency’

As if budget cutbacks weren’t causing enough heartburn in California, the University of California, San Diego is embroiled in a “racial state of emergency” after some students arranged a Compton Cookout making fun of black stereotypes and mocking Black History Month.

Though administrators issued quick condemnations, an irreverant student group ran a live segment on closed-circuit television Thursday night that supported the party and called its critics “ungrateful,” according to the San Diego Tribune.

That sparked “tears, outrage and a march across campus,” according to the Tribune. Minority students presented a list of 32 demands to administrators, most meant to improve the racial climate on campus.

The Compton Cookout, organized by a campus fraternity, encouraged invitees to “dress and act like ‘ghetto chicks’ by speaking loudly, starting fights and wearing cheap clothes,” the Tribune reported.

Administrators could not track down a tape of the live segment by Koala TV, but they did find a piece of cardboard in the student-run television studio with “Compton lynching” written on it.

According to the Tribune, racial tensions on campus have been escalating for some time, and many minority students feel isolated.

I just got back from a visit to UC San Diego, a beautiful campus that borders the verdant La Jolla coastline. It’s a place of privilege, chock-a-block with wealthy retirees who have given generously to the univeristy.

But in the not-so-distant past, the area was so exclusive that only WASPs — White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants — were allowed to buy land. Knowing Jewish professors would come to the new university, UC regents bought land around the campus so faculty could buy property and have somewhere to live.

I guess old habits die hard. Well-meaning administrators have tried to unify the campus, but many students told me they feel the campus lacks social cohesion.

“The campus is really big, and it’s hard to communicate,” said Hong Le, a 19-year-old freshman. “You pass by in your own little world.”